


Dirty Paws

by HEBEPHOH



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Moon Taeil-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:22:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25917271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HEBEPHOH/pseuds/HEBEPHOH
Summary: Taeil’s life is nothing out of ordinary.He works in a theatre, rents a two-room flat and has a cat he adores. Taeil's life is simple, but can be ruined if there's one missing piece.
Relationships: Moon Taeil/Nakamoto Yuta
Kudos: 43





	Dirty Paws

Taeil’s life is nothing out of ordinary.

He works in a theatre, rents a two-room flat, and has a cat he adores. And today is just another day of his ordinary life.

Taeil gets up early, makes breakfast for himself and feeds Bogsung, and then leaves for work. Rehearsals go well as usual and he even laughs with others at some of the director's jokes.

At 7 p.m. he waves the troop goodbye and heads home.

Then he remembers the half-empty fridge waiting for him at home and changes his route to the nearby convenience store he frequents. Taeil buys just enough and smiles awkwardly noticing the cashier stare at his bachelor basket. Well, he only has himself and Sung, so that’s enough for a living.

When Taeil enters the building, he greets his neighbour--an old woman living next to him--and his mood lights up just a little when he realises, he doesn't have to wait for the lift for long.

Taeil puts a bag he’s holding down and closes the door behind him. The lights are already on so Sung wouldn’t be afraid. And, thinking about Bogsung, Taeil calls him aloud.

When nothing happens, Taeil rolls his eyes. Of course, this cat won’t come out to greet him.

He takes off his shoes and brings the goods to the kitchen to unpack. He checks out a bowl to see if Bogsung ate well and hums, satisfied.

“Bogsung-ah, dinner!” Taeil calls again. He waits for a few minutes, preparing his own food, and after getting no response nor seeing his cat, he goes to find the cat himself. Maybe he fell asleep somewhere or got stuck under Taeil’s bed again or can't get down from the top of the wardrobe - must be one of these.

Taeil looks around the flat, searching for any signs, but can’t find anything. He checks the bathroom and decides to go to his bedroom but freezes noticing something with a corner of his eye.

Taeil knew this before that having a cat at home will lead to the constant fur and dirt everywhere because of the common cat behaviour: knocking the vases and flower pots over, so he’s not surprised to see some soil on the floor. He tries to put it back into the plant’s pot but he can’t do this with his hands shaking. He stands up and looks around, suddenly feeling out of breath, breaking in cold sweat.

“Bogsung-ah?” He repeats. He checks under his bed, on top and inside the wardrobe; throws pillows and a blanket around to see if the cat is asleep somewhere underneath.

Then he turns to the window where the pot fell from. He felt the wind the first second he walked into the room, but he just didn’t want to think about it.

“Oh no, no, no!” Taeil whispers, feeling his heart beating too fast when he moves the curtains to the left. 

He left the window semi-open this morning because it was pretty sultry and hard to breathe. Now, the window was fully open. Taeil swallows and looks outside.

He can’t see anything. And he lives on the 5th floor. It can’t be what he thinks it is.

Still, Taeil rushes outside as fast as he can. It’s useless, he knows, but he can’t believe it.

He looks through the nearest bushes, runs around the neighbourhood for about an hour. He’s tired and only a few seconds away from breaking down. He doesn't know what else he can do.

When he sits in the darkness of his kitchen, he doesn’t feel anything. Taeil tells himself that tomorrow he will look around again and call all shelters in the city. He can’t miss Sung too.

  
  


He doesn’t sleep well. Mostly because of overthinking and breaking into tears every ten minutes. He doubts if he can work today but he can’t act immature when the theatre season starts soon, he still has work to do and people counting on him.

Taeil doesn’t consider himself an important part of the theatre ensemble. Probably because of both low self-esteem and not spending a lot of time behind the stage with others. It’s just like they seem to have already formed groups of friends and he doesn’t want to seem a bother. Sometimes he feels like wanting to join their conversations, and he even went out with them for drinks one or two times after the closing nights at the end of previous seasons. But he never actually thought about the possibility of being close to someone but did he even need anyone when he had Bogsung to give his love to and take care of?

Had. Taeil stumbles and almost falls down the stage, scaring everyone. Taeil’s mind keeps drifting off all day long, and the feeling of everyone’s eyes on him is making him sick. Director gives them a fifteen minutes break, and Taeil sighs. He has to concentrate.

  
  


Calling shelters doesn’t help in the end. Taeil’s more exhausted than usual, but he checks every corner and side street possible. 

Tonight, he goes to bed without having any dinner whatsoever. Maybe he should get used to it.

  
  


There must be something off with his face because the next day one of his co-workers greets him with a suggestion:

“Hi, Taeil, are you up for some pizza, maybe?” Joohyun asks him the first second she sees Taeil enter the theatre building.

Taeil probably looks like a deer caught in the headlights because Joohyun laughs.

“It’s okay, we just wanted to celebrate a week before the new season starts.” She explains. Taeil nods awkwardly.

“Would be nice.” He says. Joohyun smiles at him.

“Then don’t get lost.”

  
  


“Excuse me, Mrs Byun, could you wait for me, please?” Taeil runs as fast as possible to open the door for the woman. “Let me help you.” He says, taking her bags.

“Thank you, Taeil.” The woman greets him, smiling friendly. “It’s rare to see you here this early.”

Taeil laughs. “Right, though I don’t think it’s going to happen again any soon.” He continues, walking his neighbour to the lift.

“Don’t overwork yourself, dear.” Mrs Byun says kindly, and Taeil only smiles at her tone.

When the car stops at their floor and they exit it, Taeil helps her bring her bags to the kitchen and doesn’t refuse when she offers him a cup of tea.

Everything’s better than returning to his empty flat.

They talk about the weather and gossip about their neighbours. Well, mostly Mrs Byun, because Taeil doesn’t know much about his surroundings.

“I’m glad to have you as my next-door neighbour.” She smiles. “You’re nice and quiet, a perfect neighbour. Not all young people would like to spend time with an older generation.”

“Well, not all elder people are as nice as you, Mrs Byun.” Taeil says and only after that does he realise he could sound rude.

He relaxes when the woman laughs. “Touch é. ” She takes one more sip and then puts the cup down. “But I actually enjoyed spending time with you. Just as joyful as listening to Yuta’s stories.” She suddenly gasps and chuckles. “He has such a wonderful imagination but sounds so confident. If only you heard his story about a cat falling from the sky... This kid!”

Taeil freezes.

“A cat falling from the sky?” He repeats. Mrs Byun nods.

“Well, even if it didn’t fall from the sky, it still exists.” She continues. “Yuta showed me a picture of this red creature. Such a cutie. Must be a domestic one, he’s currently searching for an owner.”

Taeil stands up suddenly, scaring Mrs Byun for a second.

“Where can I find him?”

“Who?”

“Yuta. The one who found the cat.”

“Oh.” She sighs in understanding. “He works in our convenience store part-time, he’s a university student. Such a nice boy, always helps me on any trifles.”

Taeil interrupts her, excusing himself. He can’t wait.

  
  


Taeil rushes to the store.

Maybe he looks a bit terrifying, because the only people there--two staff workers--flinch and look at him, wide-eyed. A couple more seconds--and they will call the police. Taeil first looks at the man in front of him, and then at the female behind the cash desk.

He turns back to the young man wearing an apron and takes a deep breath, calming himself down. Okay, he’s not scary and not going to kill Taeil if he tries to talk to him. He always smiled back when Taeil dropped by the store.

“Are you Yuta?”

The worker hesitates but still nods. “Do I know you?”

Taeil straightens and continues. “I’m Mrs Byun's neighbour.” He says. Yuta visibly relaxes after hearing a familiar name. “She told me that you found a cat, and it could be my lost cat.”

Yuta blinks and glances over his shoulder to nod at his co-worker and let her know that everything’s fine.

“Yes.” He finally answers, and Taeil sighs, relieved. “Perhaps, I found a cat, but you have to prove to me it’s yours. Tell me, what colour is it?”

“He has short orange fur, just like a peach.” Taeil says, confident. Yuta hums, satisfied, and examines Taeil from head to feet.

“Fine.”

Yuta lives in the same building as Taeil, but three floors below.

They don’t talk on their way there because Taeil’s still awkward with strangers. And still, it wasn’t hard not to notice how Yuta’s holding back the urge to ask Taeil something.

And that’s why he’s almost on the alert when in the lift car Yuta blurts out:

“Don’t you wanna know how I found your cat?”

Taeil shrugs.

“Mrs Byun said he’d fallen from the sky.” Yuta smiles at his words.

“Right, but.” He pauses when the lift stops at the required floor. “I guess he fell from your window. You should be more cautious.”

“I know.” Taeil agrees. “I was so scared when I realised what happened. I tried searching around but couldn’t find him anywhere. It’s a miracle that Mrs Byun decided to retell me this funny story of yours.”

Yuta nods.

“It’s indeed funny.” Yuta agrees. “When I came home that day, I felt something was off ‘cause Rapu didn’t greet me the way she always did. Then I saw soil prints all over the floor and after following them, I found her under the bed. First, I thought she was scared that I’d punish her for making a mess, but then I saw Mr Dirty Paws sitting opposite her, scarring her.”

“Mr Dirty Paws?” Taeil asks, not sure if he heard right.

Yuta raises an eyebrow at him before opening the front door.

“Exactly.” He confirms. “How do you think your cat even got inside my flat? He fell from your window right into the flower pots I had hanging outside my window. The flowers are now destroyed, and it will take months to grow them again.”

Taeil feels guilt forming at the bottom of his stomach. He really didn’t think about the other’s side of the situation.

Before he can apologise, he’s interrupted with a loud bark. Then he sees the dog with an opened mouth and a tongue sticking out, wiggling its tail left and right. Yuta sits down to pat the dog for a few seconds, then he introduces the man behind him:

“Rapunzel, this is Taeil, he will save you from Mr Dirty Paws.” Yuta stands up, and Taeil tries to correct him.

“Actually, his name is Bogsung.”

Yuta processes his words. “Because he reminds you of peaches?” Taeil nods.

“Well, he reminds me of my destroyed flowers, so I’ll call him Dirty Paws.”

Taeil wants to argue but notices red fur sticking out from the corner.

“Bogsung-ah?” he calls immediately, and after getting a nod from Yuta he comes closer to his cat to grab and hug him. The cat wants to escape but recognises his owner, sniffing him, then licks his hands. “I missed you so much, why did you run away? Was so bored so decided to play with my feelings?”

Yuta laughs and Taeil frowns at him.

“Sorry.” Yuta says, still smiling. He looks at Rapu, coming closer to Taeil to look at the cat in his arms. Taeil looks down at her too, not wanting to accidentally hurt her.

“Thank you for looking after Sung.” Taeil finally says. “I really mean it, thank you.”

Yuta nods with a smile. Taeil tries to pat Rapunzel and after not getting bitten by her he realises.

“Wait, you named your dog Rapunzel because her fur is gold and really long?”

“Right.” Yuta confirms. “But it’s your cat who actually escaped through the window.”

Taeil snorts. He stays like that a few more seconds, occupied with pets around him, not sure if it’s time for him and Bogsung to leave.

He relaxes when Yuta finally decides to speak up. “Well.”

“Well.” Taeil repeats. “I should check the windows before leaving for work from now on.”

“You really should.” Yuta agrees. “Though...”

“Though what?”

“Though, maybe.” Suddenly Yuta is not as confident as before, and Rapunzel goes to him to offer support. “You can…drop Bogsung off from time to time so he and Rapu wouldn’t feel lonely when both of us are out. Even if they were complete strangers at first, I think now they’ve become a bit closer.”

Bogsung jumps down from Taeil’s hands and sits by his feet. Taeil looks at him for a few seconds, wondering if it’s his cat’s nature or he actually decided this place is comfortable enough.

“I think that’s possible.” Taeil says, feeling even more awkward.

Yuta smiles, gaining some confidence.

“And you still owe me the flowers.”

Taeil gives in.

“Well, there’s no way I can get away now.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for proofreading [ L ](https://twitter.com/jsbluv_co)


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